(April 2017) "On Board" Conference, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago

WHAT: The On Board conference on nonprofit board service brings together students, alumni, and nonprofit executive directors and board presidents to network and discuss best practices in nonprofit board service. Hosted by Chicago Booth's Social Enterprise Initiative, On Board is organized to speak to varying levels of professional expertise and present solutions and best practices for issues common among nonprofit organizations and their associated boards of directors. I was invited to speak on the panel, "Casting a Wide Net: Using Your Network to Fundraise and Recruit Volunteers."WHEN: April 7, 2017WHERE: Booth School of Business, University of Chicago

(March 2017) Schmitt Foundation Fellowship Luncheon

WHAT: Invited speaker to the annual luncheon celebrating the newest cohort of fellows, as part of the Schmitt Fellows Program at Loyola University Chicago.WHEN: March 20, 2017WHERE: Loyola University Chicago

WHAT: The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. I was invited to speak on a panel on the topic of youth empowerment, as part of Fulbright's Chicago Seminar. The seminar brought together 140 Fulbright Foreign Students who are attending graduate school at institutions across the United States. WHEN: March 20, 2015WHERE: Palmer House Hilton, Chicago

(May 2014) Social Media Conference, York University (Toronto)

(April 2014) Panel on Education at the University of Illinois, Chicago

On April 29, 2014 I am speaking on a panel at UIC. The topic of the panel is: "Proven Strategies - What's Working in the City That Works." The panel is part of a day-long summit on education in Chicago. Click here for more information about the summit.

(January 2014) Practical Philosophy Workshop, Northwestern University

Paper Title: "A Habermasian Approach to the Democratization of Technology" Abstract: In his critical theory of technology, Andrew Feenberg calls for a democratization of technology, highlighting its constructed, political nature. In this paper I challenge Feenberg’s optimistic view of users’ agency vis-à-vis technologies, and claim that Feenberg’s philosophy of technology must be grounded in a more explicit normative framework through which we argue for a participatory-democratic vision of technological design. This argument will unfold in the following four steps: (1) reviewing Feenberg’s approach, in which he favors Marcuse’s approach to technology over that of Habermas; (2) questioning Feenberg’s argument, focusing on the possibility of agency within his technological social framework; (3) delineating the potential contribution that Habermas could bring to a critical theory of technology by showing that his discourse-based framework could serve as a valuable normative grounding for Feenberg’s project. I conclude (4) by pointing to a complexity in the attempt to utilize Habermas’s communicative framework in service of a critical theory of technology, namely, the dual role of technology as the object of discourse on the one hand, and the medium through which this discourse takes place on the other.

(November 2013) University of Chicago Ministry Conference

I have been invited to speak on a panel discussion titled: "Theory and Solidarity." Description of the program:

Recognizing that solidarity movements address a wide variety of justice issues, we seek to begin the conversation by hearing about the theoretical perspectives and personal commitments that are at stake in the praxis of solidarity. We will gather at McCormick Theological Seminary to hear from a panel of professors and practitioners from a variety of faith perspectives who will speak to the larger frameworks which motivate the activity of solidarity.

(October 2013) Critical Theory Roundtable, St Louis University

I will be co-presenting a paper with David B. Ingram. Paper title: "The Public Sphere as Site of Emancipation and Enlightenment: A Discourse Theoretic Critique of Digital Communications." This paper will be published in an a book next year. Click to read more about that publication (including abstract).